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these reptiles ; sufficient still remain to cause anxiety in a sojourner 

 before his slumbering siesta, or nightly repose ; yet it is extraordi- 

 nary how few accidents happen from venomous creatures in India, 

 where the natives in travelling are accustomed only to spread a 

 mat, or cotton carpet, on the earth when they sleep. I have occa- 

 sionally mentioned circumstances irreconcileable to Europeans, 

 constantly occurring among the Hindoos. I insert another anec- 

 dote respecting the bite of a serpent, and the consequences which 

 look place at Baroche the year before I made this excursion ; I 

 shall only affirm that my relation is an unembellished matter of 

 fact, from which I do not pretend to draw any conclusion. 



At Baroche I was intimate with a Banian named Lullabhy, the 

 richest man in the city, and of great influence in the purgunna. 

 He was universally believed to possess the power of curing the bite 

 of venomous serpents, by a knowledge peculiar to himself, which 

 he never imparted to another. By this art he certainly recovered 

 many natives from a desperate state, after being wounded by the 

 cobra-di-capello, and the scarlet snake of Cubbeer-Burr, without 

 touching the patient or prescribing any thing inwardly. The 

 talent of Lullabhy seemed to have no affinity with that of the 

 ancient Psylli, or the modern snake-charmers, but probably was 

 not unlike the science professed by Mesmer or Dr. de Mainoduc ; 

 be that as it may, his fame for effecting these cures was every 

 where established. Mr. Perrolt, then second in council, and some 

 other of the civil servants at Baroche, were satisfied with a cure of 

 which they had been frequent witnesses. 



Of all the Europeans I was acquainted with in India, Mr. 

 Robert Gambier, at that time chief of Baroche, was perhaps the 



